CHANGING THE SUBJECT: From system to culture to the event

Evental therapy adopts a philosophical archaeology that enables it to develop a new model of therapy and change. Grounded in philosopher Alain Badiou’s concept of the event, it addresses three gaps in contemporary theory: of the subject, therapy, and change. By addressing central links among systems - culture - event, it highlights how predicaments confront individuals, families, and communities across diverse cultural systems. Predicaments are profound ruptures in a person’s lifeworld; they are evental sites leading either to trauma (which shuts down possibilities) or event (which opens the potential for change). Evental therapy takes up such openings for radical change by a therapist’s presence alongside subjects, by naming the event, and by a joint fidelity and commitment towards an unknown future. The concluding case study of Antonella illustrates evental therapy in practice.